Hedwig Lowenski
In the comic strip De onbekende piloot (The Unknown Pilot) published by Belgian publisher Studio Vandersteen, Hedwig Lowenski (or Hedwig Zieroski by her maiden name) was the wife of former Polish R.A.F. pilot Stanislaw Lowenski. Biggles first met Hedwig during a pleasure drive through the Scottish countryside. He had run out of petrol and came across Hedwig painting under a tree. The nearest petrol station was more than 10 miles away but Hedwig lent Biggles her motorbike so that he could fetch some fuel. When he returned, it had begun to rain so he gave Hedwig a lift and they both sought shelter at a B and B. Thereafter, aspects of Hedwig's behaviour began to look suspicious. Going into the B and B, a small calibre revolver falls out of her rucksack (she tells Biggles a girl who walks alone in the countryside needs to take precautions). Early the next morning, she went out on her motorbike before breakfast. After the morning meal, Hedwig went on her way so Biggles took the opportunity to call Air Commodore Raymond at Scotland Yard, presumably to make some enquiries about this mysterious girl. However he is soon side-tracked and asked to investigate an aircraft which had crashed in the Scottish Highlands. Biggles next met Hedwig at the crash site. This time he had just arrested Lowenski who had been rummaging in the wreckage looking for a lump of uranium. Hedwig intervened and demanded that Biggles free the man. Biggles managed to turn the tables on the two and had both of them at gunpoint. Left without options, the couple made a full confession to Biggles. Lowenski was Polish and had fought with the R.A.F. pilot during the war. Later he had become a British citizen and had settled in Scotland. Hedwig was his wife. Agents of a gang working for a foreign power had threatened Hedwig's parents who were living in Kammergulz in Austria. To assure their safety, Lowenski and Hedwig were obliged to obey the orders of the agents. Lowenski and Hedwig agreed to help Biggles in putting an end to the work of the gang. With the help of Lowenski and Hedwig, Biggles was able to eliminate the gang's safehouse in London. Investigations also showed that Hedwig's parents had probably been kidnapped by the gang and were in a place called Berghofen in Austria. Biggles mounted a rescue mission with the help of Algy and Ginger which ultimately succeeded in freeing Hedwig's parents as well as capturing all the members of the gang. The comic strip does not detail what happened to Lowenski or his wife at the end. Given her maiden name, Hedwig is a Polish woman herself and she told Biggles as much when he asked about her accent. She also said that her parents had gone to the Philippines and she would go there also when she finished her studies in London. She does not appear in the original Johns story on which the comic strip is based. There, Lowenski was married to a Scottish woman but we do not meet her and Johns doesn't give her name. Category:People Category:Non-canonical characters